Gee on Nerf Wars: ‘Don’t do this in Gig Harbor if you look like me’

Kids in Gig Harbor are restarting an old game, which police are saying has led to some reckless behavior.

The Gig Harbor Police Department released a statement warning residents of the possible danger of a “Nerf War” game played by local teens.

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The Nerf War is a popular tradition in the area where high school students shoot other teammates with foam bullets from Nerf guns in hopes of winning prize money at the end. Participants are considered “off limits” at school, work, or inside their homes. However, the rules allow players to stalk each other in neighborhoods or near workplaces.

Our statement on the Nerf Wars, an activity popular within our high school student community. We urge great caution. pic.twitter.com/4TpnrI9yga

— Gig Harbor Police (@GigHarborPolice) April 21, 2023

Ursula and Gee were on the side of the police, saying that the dangers from the game are a serious concern.

Police say that they have been receiving reports of prowlers, reckless driving, and car accidents related to the game.

“It has already led to problems, it has already led to either people being injured or people potentially thinking that you might have a weapon, so they might end up shooting you because they think that you’re not a prankster, but you’re actually someone who’s going to do them harm. I would be very, very worried about that,” Ursula said.

The police’s warning comes after four young people were shot around the country doing ordinary things over the past week.

A man shot and wounded two cheerleaders outside a Texas supermarket early Tuesday after one of them said she mistakenly got into his car thinking it was her own.

A group looking for a friend’s house in upstate New York arrived in the wrong driveway, only for one of them to be shot to death Saturday night, authorities said.

In Missouri last Thursday, a Kansas City teen was shot twice after going to the wrong home to pick up his younger brothers.

Producer Andrew Lanier argued that ‘Nerf War’ is a fun, harmless tradition that high schoolers should be allowed to play.

“This isn’t one of these pranks that has horrific outcomes, or someone really has to clean up the mess. This is a fun thing that’s been going along, going on for at least 10 years at multiple schools across the state,” Lanier said. “And these are not kids dressed in ghillie suits with realistic weapons of war on the streets of Gig Harbor. These are orange, red, and blue Nerf guns. I think anyone can can distinguish the difference.”

Gee said he wouldn’t let his kids do it, worried that people would mistake the Nerf gun for a real gun, but wasn’t against other people’s kids doing it in general.

“I mean, what I’d tell my kids is, ‘I don’t care what your friends are doing. You’re not doing this,” Gee said. “Now, if your friend Johnny and Sam and Mike if they want to do it, then you let them do it. But you, Gee Scott Jr., Zion, or my little cousin Tyrone, you are not doing it.’… Don’t do this in Gig Harbor, and especially if you look like me, don’t do this in Gig Harbor.”